Water Moccasin

[Wijbrandus]

I have been chased by both water moccasins and rattlesnakes. I have also been bitten a few times by sidewinders and diamondbacks. I have a total irrational fear of snakes now. Ever have one slither up your trouser leg while you lay in the bush hunting prairie dogs? That'll get you to prayer really quick, let me tell you.

Like someone else mentioned, the only good poisonous snake is a dead poisonous snake. These kinds of snakes have a weapon. They don't believe in retreat, and will be aggressive.

I ran over a six foot rattler in my jeep Sunday afternoon. Not one damn bit of regret either. If it hadn't been on the highway, I'd have done it again.

While there are good snakes out there, I'm hard pressed to find them.

 

[The Kraken]

Many people take that same position with respect to sharks.

 

[Wijbrandus]

Many people take that same position with respect to sharks.

Touche'. Won't change my mind, but I concede the point.

I did say it was irrational.

 

[The Kraken]

That ya did, my friend . . .

the K

 

[downdeep]

Oh don't get me wrong. I never killed one unless I hit it with my car in the road. Backed over it - a few times. Spun the tires over it a bit.....

 

[Wijbrandus]

I do solemnly swear not to run over any sharks with my jeep.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Thanks for the heads up Grier, your link pointed me in the right direction for a correct identification. Turns out my Ginnie snake pictured is a Brown Water Snake. It DOES say its often confused with Moccassin's and Copperheads though Apparently, I'm not the only person to make the wrong ID on these guys!

You know, I remember when you first posted that pic that I wasn't sure about the id, but it looked close enough to a cottonmouth that I didn't want to muddy the waters over the ID. It's still a great pic, and a unique wildlife encounter for Ginnie.

I worry much more about copperheads in the woods between my car and the water's edge. They're grumpy little snakes and very prone to biting. They are, by far, the most likely venomous snake to bite people in the US. NC leads the way in the bite statistics, with ~18 bites/100,000 population per year.

That's not to play down the cottonmouth's disposition. I've never had a bad encounter with one, but have heard lots of stories. I tend to stay out of places where you would expect to find them, and when I do go into those places, I make lots of noise to let them know I'm near. In general, pit vipers are good about judging the size of potential prey and let big animals like me pass on by without incident.

Hope you're getting lots of bottom time in the springs,
Grier

 

[Chris Hipp]

I've only had one snake encounter while diving.

When I was taking my OW class way back in 2002, I went into the bathroom to change into my swim shorts, after I put them on I noticed that something didn't feel right. I pulled them off and my 2 foot corn snake had gotten out of its cage and found its way into my scuba bag (probably liked the moisture.) They are pretty skinny so it easily coiled up inside my shorts without my knowing.

I put it into a pocket of my bag and took it home after class.

 

[mpittman]

Being from Arkansas I've had a few encounters with the water mocassin , I have had to use the oars on our boat to beat them away from crawling in the boat with us while fishing lake leatherwood near beaver lake. Generally the local papers run an article each year around memorial day weekend (as that is when we get the most snake bites from around beaver lake) as a man made lake its often times a combination of rising lake water , the sheer amount of campers and boaters out that weekend , and (near the headwaters) nature still tell the water mocassins that the white river is a river and not a dammed up lake and its time to roll down the river and spawn. I have always loved snakes , but i don't mess with mocassins unless i absolutly have to. (BTW my gramps always told me that if you want to see if a snake is poisonous or not look closely at the pupils , pit vipers have slitted pupils , non poisonous american snakes have round pupils... of course this completly defeats the logic of staying away from a potentially deadly unknown species of snake but hey its my gramps) And yes it is unlikely for you to die from a mocassin bite , more likely it will break off its own fangs before a lethal amount of venom is injected , also their poison is a hemotoxin not a neurotoxin found in species like the coral snake which requires a fairly large amount of venom by comparison to neurotoxins to break down enough of the blood supply to cause death. the old wives tale of snakes not biting under water is just that , while ive never been bit by any snake above or under the water, there was a kid who swam up near monte ne when beaver lake was first built who thought he got caught in some old farmers barbed wire fence , he came out dead with over 70 mocassin bites...

 

[DaFireMedic]

I have been chased by both water moccasins and rattlesnakes.

Like someone else mentioned, the only good poisonous snake is a dead poisonous snake. These kinds of snakes have a weapon. They don't believe in retreat, and will be aggressive.

I don't know as much about Moccasins, I've never encountered one. I've read that they can sometimes be aggressive. But rattlesnakes are very much non aggressive, and almost all bites take place when someone is either trying to catch/kill one or accidentally steps on one. I myself have stepped within 6 inches of rattlesnakes on 3 separate occasions while hiking or fishing and not been bit. This includes one that I did not see that was coiled and in strike position. Scared the crap out of me, and I jumped to the side of the trail. All 3 of these snakes could have bitten me, but did not. All of them fled in retreat. We are far too big for them to eat, and if they know we are coming, they get out of the way.

Even poisonous snakes serve a purpose, such as keeping the disease carrying rodent population down. I have an agreement with rattlesnakes: They don't bite me, and I don't kill them and take them to the hospital for identification purposes. So far, they have kept up their end of the bargain.

There have been times when I have killed rattlenakes (twice), but that was when I lived in a rural residential area and they were in the vicinity of children playing, and I felt there was a legitimate danger. I am no tree hugger, but I try not to kill animals, even ones that I don't care for, without good reason.